Video 4:02
Japan's tsunami survivors face mental challenge

A Japanese newspaper says Japan will face a mental health crisis in the wake of the devastating March earthquake and tsunami.

Transcript

ALI MOORE, PRESENTER: There are fears of a looming mental health crisis in Japan as many survivors of the March earthquake and tsunami struggle to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.

Japan's biggest selling newspaper is reporting that there are fewer than 20 psychotherapists specialising in PTSD in the entire country.

And there are warnings that treating the trauma experienced by children will prove a particular challenge to Japanese health specialists.

The ABC's North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy reports from the tsunami-hit area of Minamisanriku.

MARK WILLACY, REPORTER: They're just like kids anywhere. Playful, gregarious and a little bit mischievous. All of these children have lost their homes, some have lost family. They're survivors of the tsunami.

And this classroom is a place where they can escape the memory of the waves.

MAKIBA TAMANO, WORLD VISION: They can have a good place they can play and forget about, you know what's going around. And then also the tsunami impact of the tsunami, the sad situations and memories and then they can basically be themselves.

MARK WILLACY: But there are warnings that Japan is under prepared for the long-term impact of the tsunami, and not just among its children.

DR NORIHIKO KUWAYAMA, PSYCHIATRIST (translated): I think post-traumatic stress disorder will become a big problem and I think that relates to Japanese culture which subscribes to the view that it's best to let sleeping dogs lie.

So instead of talking about the tsunami, people carry it in their hearts.

MARK WILLACY: A Japanese report released this month warned that many tsunami survivors may experience long-term anxiety as well as guilt.

And it's estimated that up to one in five survivors will suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. This latest report urges the government to offer mental health screening to survivors and to help refer people to specialists.

It has been reported there are fewer than 20 psychotherapists specialising in post-traumatic stress disorder in the whole of Japan. And it's feared it will lead to a mental health crisis here in the disaster zone.

Sumiyo Ota is a Red Cross nurse and today she's visiting an evacuation centre in the city of Ishinomaki. Here she meets Katsuo Takahashi who was nearly swept to his death by the tsunami.

The 82-year-old tells nurse Ota of the guilt gnawing away at him.

KATSUO TAKAHASHI, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR (translated): I saw people being washed away right in front of me. One person was screaming help me, but I couldn't help.

MARK WILLACY: Like many others here at the evacuation centre, Katsuo Takahashi and his daughter have trouble sleeping, haunted by flashbacks and even other people's nightmares.

KATSUO TAKAHASHI (translated): I remember the tsunami. I remember the people who died. There were married couples washed way together. When I think about that I can't sleep.

EMIKO TAKAHASHI, TSUNAMI SURVIVOR (translated): There's a 17-year-old boy who has nightmares here every night. He talks loudly in his sleep.

MARK WILLACY: For Red Cross nurse Sumiyo Ota identifying people with PTSD is hard enough. Getting them treatment is even harder.

SUMIYO OTA, RED CROSS NURSE (translated): They look down and avoid eye contact with me. I worry about those people. Also there are people talking to themselves and many of the children are having nightmares.

NORIHIKO KUWAYAMA (translated): I'm predicting that PTSD among children will become more serious. The reason is that children don't have the ability to talk as much as grown-ups. It is quite hard for them to verbalise. So I think it will get more serious for children.

MARK WILLACY: For these children, the giant waves that swallowed their homes also etched itself on their psyche. After months cooped up in an evacuation centre, it is time for them to have some fun.